


Stargazing

by MicrosuedeMouse



Category: Lemonade Mouth (2011)
Genre: Camping, Confessions, Conspiring Friends, F/M, First Kiss, Friendship, Horseback Riding, Stargazing, Wishes, cross-posted to FFNet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-21
Updated: 2017-05-21
Packaged: 2018-11-03 10:32:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10965444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MicrosuedeMouse/pseuds/MicrosuedeMouse
Summary: After spending several weeks of their summer on tour, the band agrees that a day spent riding and a night spent stargazing at Wen's place sounds like a great way to relax. Meteor showers are good for wishes, but Wen can only think of one thing to wish for any more.





	Stargazing

**Author's Note:**

> I've been procrastinating on posting this for so long but HEY here it is. A few details:  
> 1\. I'm a little bit in love with Wen as a low-key horse guy (probably because I live in a semi-rural town full of farm people) and it's made it's way into a few of my stories, this included. My first-hand experience with riding/boarding is limited so I brushed up with a little research, nothing is super detailed though  
> 2\. I'm also in love with the idea of him teaching Olivia to ride; I can picture it easily and I also think it's a cool exercise for Olivia in practising courage and confidence -- I want to write a story focusing on it sometime, but in the meantime if you like it there's some more in the fic I'm posting right after this, Along the Way  
> 3\. I came up with names/descriptions for Wen and Georgie's horses and I've used them (and my descriptions of the Gifford property in general) in multiple fics; I also came up with the dog, who I plan to use again  
> 4\. they're watching the Perseids because it's my favourite meteor shower haha  
> I think that's everything. Enjoy, and if you like it, please spare me a moment to comment! <3

It was a warm August afternoon, sunny and cloudless, and Wen hoped it stayed that way as he came up around the barn and headed back towards the house. He slid in the back door as Georgie came running into the kitchen.

“There you are!” she said. “Just in time. Olivia’s here!”

“Cool, thanks,” he answered, kicking the dirt off his boots over the mat by the door. He stepped through to the front room and greeted Olivia with a smile, taking her bag and tossing on the couch in the living room. “How are you?” he asked.

“I’m good,” she told him. “I’m excited.”

“Yeah? Good,” he answered. “Me too.”

“Am I the first one here?” Olivia glanced around the room as if she expected someone else to emerge into the room.

“Yup,” he answered. “You’re a little early.”

“Sorry,” she said, rubbing her arm awkwardly.

“Don’t be,” he said with a shrug, shaking his head. He glanced at her and half-smiled, mildly amused by her awkwardness, standing just a few steps in the door. “C’mon, Olivia, you know you can make yourself at home here.” It was hardly the first time she’d been to his house, but she did usually take a little bit to get comfortable. “You want to sit out back?” he offered.

“Yeah, that sounds good,” she agreed, smiling sheepishly. Wen led her out through the back door, hands in his pockets. “Georgie, we’ll be out back,” he called into the house, and a small “okay!” came back to him from somewhere.

Wen and Olivia sat down in a couple of brightly-painted Adirondack chairs near the back of the house, and Wen tossed her one of the lemonades he’d already set out on the table. “How do you think the others will do with the horses?” he asked.

Olivia grinned as she cracked open the can. “I’m interested to find out,” she admitted. “Scott’s met them once, right?”

“He came over once when we were kids, yeah,” he said with a nod. “I think that was just before I got Zephyr, so he would’ve just met my parents’ horses at the time.”

“How’d he do then?”

“Pretty well, I guess,” Wen answered, tipping his head to one side as he tried to remember. “A little nervous, but that’s reasonable. Horses are really big when you’re ten years old.”

Olivia nodded. “That’s true.”

Wen watched her as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and looked out over the property, squinting slightly in the sunshine. He loved her hair when it was down, the gentle waves falling over her shoulders, and he loved the way she dressed when she came over to ride, old jeans and t-shirt with a practical flannel tossed over top, not unlike his own usual at-home style.

Wen’s train of thought was interrupted when the back door slid open and Scott and Mo emerged, Georgie behind them. She waved at Wen as the dog pushed out past her, and he waved back in thanks. “C’mere, Glover,” he laughed, beckoning to the excited brown border collie as he danced around Scott and Mo’s feet.

“Nooo,” Mo said immediately, crouching down to stroke his face. “Don’t call him away! He’s my new best friend already!”

Wen laughed again, getting out of his seat to go over and greet Scott and Mo while they visited with the dog. “How long have you been around, huh?” Scott asked the dog, then glanced up at Wen.

“We’ve been working Dad for a dog for about two years,” Wen explained. “Glover belonged to some friends of his, but they abruptly had to rehome him when they had a baby who turned out to be allergic. Georgie started begging as soon as she heard, Sydney joined in, and Dad finally broke down. Been a couple months now.”

Olivia got to her feet as well, leaving her lemonade behind on the arm of her chair. “Wen, you can’t introduce Glover and not show off some of what he can do!” she chastised with a smile. Wen stepped back as she approached the dog. He turned to her happily, tail wagging, and nuzzled her hand. She raised one hand in the air and gestured as she gave him instructions. “Glover, sit. Good boy! Now lay down. Roll over,” she told him, and he followed her commands obediently. “Up! Good _boy_.” She leaned over to rub his muzzle and glanced at Wen. “Do you have any…?”

Wen couldn’t help smiling. He loved the way Olivia got along with his animals. “Yeah,” he said. “Glover, c’mere.” The dog trotted over to him and stood expectantly. Wen pointed a finger gun at him and said, “Bang!” Glover toppled over and displayed his belly, making Scott and Mo laugh. Then Wen crouched down, pulling a little treat out of his pocket and offering it to the dog, who quickly got to his feet. “That’s my good boy,” Wen praised him, ruffling his neck scruff.

“He’s so smart!” Mo said admiringly.

“Isn’t he wonderful?” Olivia agreed.

“Lucky for you guys,” Wen told them, straightening up again, “he’ll be joining us tonight, so you get to enjoy his company all night long.”

Within the next fifteen minutes or so Stella and Charlie finally showed up, directed into the backyard by Georgie, who came out with Charlie at the end. “You’re taking Butter out, right?” she asked her brother as she handed Olivia a paper bag full of carrots.

“Yeah, if that’s still cool?” he answered.

She nodded. “Can you just check that spot on her flank for me? Dr. Kaur said to watch for a few more weeks to be sure the infection’s completely gone.”

“Will do,” Wen agreed. “You sure you don’t wanna join us?”

“Maybe in a little bit,” Georgie said, cracking a grin. “My show’s on in a minute, though.”

“Ah, of course,” Wen laughed. He mussed her hair. “Okay, see you later, then.”

“Her show?” Stella asked in amusement as Wen started to lead the group toward the barn.

“Her favourite cartoon,” Wen explained. “It’s not bad, as far as I can tell. She watches it religiously though, even reruns.”

“Ah, of course,” Stella said with a nod, chuckling as Glover trotted around her feet.

The barn doors were already propped open, and Wen raised his hand in greeting to someone who stood at a stall down near the far end. They waved back and returned to what they were doing, and Wen turned towards the first stall on the left, clicking his tongue. “Everybody, this is my boy Zephyr,” he introduced as a tall dapple-grey gelding stepped forward and stretched his head out over the stall door, reaching forward so Wen could rub his nose. Wen watched out of the side of his eye as Olivia stepped forward on Zephyr’s other side and stroked the side of his face. She was already a lot more comfortable approaching the horses than she had been the first time she came over, and Wen loved it.

Olivia opened the paper bag and offered Zephyr a baby carrot, hand held flat like she’d been taught. The horse accepted the gift eagerly.

Wen introduced his friends to the horse one by one, showing them how to approach from the side, where Zephyr liked to be petted, how to feed him. Then he took them two stalls over to meet Georgie’s horse Butter, a smaller, light-chestnut-almost-golden filly. Once all the introductions had been made he opened Zephyr’s stall and began the process of saddling the horse.

“Hey, Olivia, c’mere,” he invited her as everybody else stood back to give him space. She exchanged a quick glance with Mo and then stepped into the stall, curious. “I told you I’d show you how to do this part soon,” he said with a smile. “You want to help?”

“Oh!” She seemed surprised, but she smiled. “Um, yeah, okay.”

Wen grinned and handed her the halter. “Don’t worry,” he promised her. “It’s not hard.”

He walked her through the process. She’d watched him do it several times by now, so she already knew a little bit. Wen savoured the chance to stand near her and guide her hands when necessary, but she worked it out pretty quickly. He took Zephyr’s lead and then let her try to saddle Butter on her own, offering gentle instructions when she hesitated. When she pulled Butter gently out of her stall by the lead, Wen did a quick check and then gave Olivia a smile. “Perfect,” he told her. “You always learn fast.” Olivia smiled down at the dirt floor for a second, and Mo and Stella exchanged grins.

Wen passed a hand over Butter’s flank, checking the red spot where she’d gotten hurt. It had been infected for a few weeks but seemed to be healing well now. “Atta girl,” he said softly, and then he and Olivia led the horses and their friends out of the barn and towards the outdoor arena a short ways away.

“So, as you guys know,” Wen started as they walked, “Olivia’s already come riding with me a few times, so I’m gonna have her and Butter help me demonstrate a few things to begin with.” He glanced at Olivia, raising his eyebrows, and she nodded her agreement.

Wen unlatched the wooden gate and waved everyone into the arena, latching the gate again behind them. Using the ever-patient Zephyr and Butter as examples, he walked everyone through a few basic rules before any riding started. Then, tossing Zephyr’s lead over his neck and trusting him to stay put, Wen strode over to Olivia and Butter. “Shall we show them how to mount?” He offered his hand. Olivia was getting the hang of climbing onto Butter’s back from now, but she still liked steadying herself against him, and he wasn’t going to complain. She nodded and took his hand, stepping into the stirrup and swinging herself up into the saddle.

“You’re getting better every time,” he told her, and she smiled.

Wen took Butter’s lead and waved the others close to see how Olivia was sitting, how she held the reins. Then he called Zephyr over and showed them again how he mounted, pulling himself easily into the saddle, doing everything a little slower than he usually did for clarity’s sake. He squeezed Zephyr’s sides and walked him back and forth, explaining as he went how he was directing the horse. Behind him, further from the others, Olivia walked Butter in a few experimental circles. Normally when she rode it was just with Wen and all she had to do was follow him around; she didn’t really know what to do with herself while he focussed on teaching the others.

“So you’ve done this a couple times, then, Olivia?” Charlie called out to her as Wen answered a couple of questions from Stella. “How’re you doing?”

“Um, pretty well, I think?” she answered. “I don’t know very much yet, but Butter’s really calm and we get along well, so she’s easy to learn with.” Carefully, she led Butter towards the drummer so he could stroke the side of her neck.

Wen looked up from Stella and shot Olivia a smile. “She’s doing really well for a beginner,” he told Charlie. “She hasn’t let her nerves stop her yet, so that’s the important part.” He trotted Zephyr over next to Butter to be closer to Olivia. “Do you want to show off what we were doing last weekend?”

“Um… I guess I could,” she said hesitantly.

“Come on,” he teased her gently. “Don’t worry, none of these guys have tried riding yet, so anything you do will look impressive, no matter what.” He winked, and she laughed.

“Okay, yeah, let’s give it a try,” she agreed.

“Cool.” He leaned over to check that she was secure in the saddle – equal parts concern for her well-being and force of habit after years of teaching his and Georgie’s friends and cousins how to ride – and then directed Zephyr out of the way. “Just like I taught you last time,” he encouraged her.

“Okay.” Olivia took a couple of deep breaths. She’d been really nervous the first time she tried riding, but she’d gotten better in her handful of informal lessons since. It was really just because there were people watching her this time that she was anxious again. But, she reminded herself, they were her best friends – and besides, like Wen said, none of them had even gotten up on a horse yet. She adjusted her grip on the reins and then set Butter off. They started with a brisk walk, which Olivia slowly nudged into a trot, and then a run. She focussed on the track, leading Butter – though she barely needed leading, really – all the way around, running past the others, making a second lap, and then slowing down on their second approach.

Wen hooted his approval – she couldn’t deny, his constant and utterly genuine pride in her for her progress made her heart swell – and Stella and Mo started clapping, joined shortly afterward by Scott and Charlie. Olivia laughed and smiled down at Butter’s neck, scratching her mane fondly as Stella shouted excitedly at her.

“You’re getting more confident!” Wen said as he trotted up next to her. “It’s great to see.”

“You do tend to bring that out in me, don’t you?” she asked softly, glancing away even as she said it, missing the enamored grin he bit down on right away.

“Glad to,” was his only answer. He reached across and squeezed her shoulder briefly. “You want to give someone else a chance?”

“Sure.”

Wen was out of the saddle in a moment, and he reached up a hand for her to steady herself on as she hopped down. “Who’s next?” he asked, letting go of her hand a little slower than he had to as they led the horses back to the others.

“Me!” Stella said immediately, jumping forward. Wen laughed.

“Okay, you and Butter, and Charlie, you wanna try Zeph?”

“Sure,” Charlie answered, grinning.

“What if I wanted the big horse?” Stella asked, hands on her hips.

“You are the smallest person here,” Wen told her, trying to look serious. “You can try the small horse first, and then if you do well, you can graduate to a bigger one.”

“Fine.” Stella rolled her eyes, but not without a bit of humour. Olivia tried to hide her laughter as she brought Butter towards Stella and helped her up into the saddle.

Wen walked the two of them through the basics with a little help from Olivia. Charlie and Stella both seemed to have a little trouble getting the hang of it. Stella couldn’t seem to keep track of her whole body at once, either concentrating too hard on her legs and leading Butter off in strange directions, or focussing too much on the reins and forgetting what she was doing with her legs. Charlie had similar issues, though he also seemed to be a little anxious about his balance, constantly grabbing hold of the saddle as if he expected to fall. Stella was the more stubborn of the two, insisting that she wasn’t going to get down until she got a hang of it. Eventually, after successfully walking Butter in a large circle, she was persuaded to dismount and give Mo a try.

Scott took to Zephyr pretty quickly. Though he had been to meet the horses once as a kid, he had never ridden, but he was naturally confident and a fast learner, so he did well. Mo wasn’t quite as successful as her boyfriend, but she handled pretty well herself. For them Wen and Olivia eventually unclipped the leads and let them walk around for a few minutes.

Georgie came outside while Scott and Mo were still riding, and she leaned casually against the fence and watched, scratching Glover’s head where he sat obediently out of the way. “He’s doing pretty well,” she observed to her brother as he stepped closer to her.

“Scott? Yeah. Not surprising,” Wen agreed with a nod. “Scott’s pretty decent at most things the first time around. It’s annoying.” He grinned.

“How’s Butter?”

“She’s being good,” he told her. “That spot on her flank looks pretty good, too. Healing up nicely.” He looked over at Scott and Mo on the horses again, then back to his sister. “You wanna come in and show off before we take the horses in?”

She smiled and nodded. “Sure. Dad says he wants to start dinner in fifteen or twenty minutes, by the way.”

“Perfect,” Wen answered. He stepped towards the others, and Georgie clambered through the worn bars of the fence into the arena, not bothered with the gate.

Once Mo and Scott were on solid ground again, Wen helped Georgie into Butter’s saddle – still a little high for her to get into on her own, and besides, he liked how she giggled when he hoisted her into the air and swung her around – and then hauled himself up onto Zephyr’s back. “Race you over the jumps?” he offered.

“You’re on,” Georgie told him. “We’ve been practicing, haven’t we, Butter?” She ruffled the horse’s mane.

“This should be fun,” Olivia said with a grin, stepping backwards with the others to stay out of the way. They’d been using the broad dirt track that went around the outside of the arena. A handful of jumps were placed along a line down the middle, though. She’d seen Wen and Zephyr go over them a few times, but this was her first time watching Georgie take them.

Wen and Georgie trotted around to one end of the arena and then lined themselves up to start. “Count us off, Olivia?” Wen called over with a smile.

“Sure thing. You ready?” she called back.

Wen said something to his sister, then they both nodded. “Ready!”

“Okay!” Olivia raised three fingers over her head. “Three… two… one… go!”

Both horses were off in no time, sailing over the first jump and making the others shout. The race was close but Georgie and Butter pulled ahead just slightly on the way across the arena. Stella and Charlie cheered Georgie on, laughing; Scott and Mo shouted their encouragement to Wen. Olivia bit down on a smile for a second, then joined the latter pair.

Wen and Zephyr hit the far end a split second after Georgie and Butter, both horses turning tightly and heading back towards the starting point. On their way back across the jumps a second time – their spectators shouting excitedly every time they went over one – Wen and Zephyr pulled ahead, soaring over the last jump and hitting the outside track again maybe a second before Georgie and Butter did. The others cheered as Wen and Georgie trotted the horses back over, slid from the saddles, and had Zephyr and Butter bow for the applause.

“Georgie, I’ve never seen you and Butter ride that way,” Olivia made a point of saying. “You two are fantastic.”

“Thank you,” Georgie said proudly, puffing up her chest a little. “I think we’re getting pretty good. We manage to beat Wen pretty often now. Dad too.”

Olivia laughed as Wen came over next to her. “Yeah, but never when Olivia’s around,” he pointed out, grinning. “Remember? Last time we raced with Olivia watching, I won that one, too. She’s my good luck charm.” He threw an arm around Olivia’s neck and hugged her playfully against his side, quickly, and she smiled at him and then quickly turned her attention to the ground. Again, behind them, their friends exchanged knowing smiles.

Since they could already see Mr. Gifford lighting the barbecue behind the house, Wen and Georgie agreed they’d put the horses away quickly while the others went back and washed their hands. “Want to help, Olivia?” Wen offered. “Might as well show you how to take everything back off.”

“Oh, okay,” Olivia answered, glancing over her shoulder at the others and then following Wen and Georgie. Scott, Mo, Stella, and Charlie waved as they headed back to the house, Glover on their heels.

Georgie led Butter into her stall and Wen took Zephyr into his, Olivia following close behind. He walked her through the steps, mostly self-explanatory after she’d put everything on earlier, but he enjoyed another excuse for closeness, for touching her hands, for taking a minute alone with her. And she wasn’t complaining. In the storage space next to Zephyr’s stall, he hung the saddle on its rack by the wall while beside him she coiled up the lead and hung it up as well, and then he half-turned towards her, watching her face. He liked it when she looked peaceful, no anxiety weighing on her mind. Out of the corner of her eye she caught him looking and glanced up with an uncertain smile; he cast his eyes down to the ground for a second, grinning shyly, but he didn’t move away. For just a second or so they stood like that, close together, not quite meeting each other’s eyes, and then Georgie’s voice broke the spell.

“Wen, are you almost done?”

“Yep,” he called back, looking up.

“Come _here_ then,” she complained good-naturedly. “I need your help.”

“Oh, right,” he said, shaking his head slightly, as if to dislodge his earlier distraction. He slipped out past Olivia and she followed behind, watching him step into Butter’s tack storage area and hang up the saddle on the nearby rack Georgie couldn’t reach. “Sorry, kiddo,” he laughed.

She rolled her eyes, and briefly he wondered how transparent he was to her. She was only just barely eleven, but she knew him well, even if he didn’t want to admit it. “It’s fine,” she told him, grinning. “Come on, I’m hungry.”

“Yeah, me too,” he agreed. They closed Butter’s stall door behind them and headed out of the barn.

The three of them went inside to wash their hands and then joined the rest of the band on the back patio as Mr. Gifford began to put patties on the grill. “There you are,” he greeted them. “Burger, Wen?” Wen nodded. “Ladies? Burgers? Hot dogs?”

“Hot dog!” Georgie answered.

“I’ll take a burger, please,” Olivia said with a nod.

“Sounds good. Wen, can I get a hand?” Mr. Gifford answered. “Georgie, sweetie, how about grabbing a few of those tomatoes out of the garden and getting someone’s help cutting them up?”

“Yessir!” Georgie responded. “Olivia, can you help?”

“Sure,” Olivia laughed. She followed the younger girl to the vegetable garden, and Stella and Mo tagged along curiously.

“So you guys must already know each other pretty well by now, huh?” Stella asked, grinning.

“Um, I guess so,” Olivia said.

“Yeah!” Georgie answered, inspecting a tomato, deeming it not ripe enough, and moving to the next vine. “Olivia’s the coolest. Way cooler than Wen, anyway.”

Mo stifled her giggle with one hand. “You know, you might be right,” she said. “You should be our new publicist.”

Georgie snorted as she picked a tomato and handed it off to Stella casually, continuing her inspection. “Ever since you guys got famous,” she confided, “My friends think you must all be _so_ cool and I’m _so_ lucky Wen’s my brother. They don’t believe me that he’s just as lame as any other big brother.” She grinned, then pulled a face. “Charlotte thinks he’s cute, which is _super_ gross.”

Stella burst out laughing; she couldn’t help herself. “I’m sorry. That’s incredible,” she giggled to Olivia and Mo, wiping her eye.

“Crazy, right?” Georgie agreed. Then, without looking up from her vegetables, she added slyly, “Anyway, Katie and Brad told her he’s dating Olivia. I tried to tell them that’s also not true, because Wen’s a wuss, but they don’t believe _that_ either. They read it in a magazine.”

Mo raised her eyebrows and elbowed Olivia lightly while Stella broke down laughing again. Georgie grinned as she picked two more tomatoes and turned around. Olivia was blushing.

“He’s not _really_ a wuss,” Olivia defended lamely, but she didn’t know what her end goal was, so she petered out. Georgie smiled innocently at her, handing Mo a tomato as well and then wrapping her free hand around Olivia’s arm. “Come on, we have to go wash these off and cut them,” she said.

The girls sat with Georgie to eat, Stella in particular absolutely delighting in both Georgie’s slightly mischievous personality and her obvious admiration for Olivia. “This kid clearly loves you,” she pointed out to Olivia at some point, swallowing a large bite of the soy burger she’d brought with her. “You fit in so well with the Gifford family.” She grinned wickedly.

After supper Mr. Gifford and Georgie took the dishes inside, and then Mr. Gifford leaned out the back door again. “Wen, we’re going to pick Sydney up from her class,” he said. “You need anything while we’re out?”

Wen shook his head. “Nope, I think we’re stocked up. We’ll be down in the meadow by the time you get back.”

“Sounds good. Text me if you think of anything.” With a thumbs up, Mr. Gifford headed out, Georgie on his heels.

“All right,” Wen said, clapping his hands together. “Let’s go get our stuff and get this evening rolling.” He waved everyone into the house and they headed for the living room to collect their bags while he threw a handful of things from the fridge into a large cooler and lugged it onto the back patio. The others stood by the door and watched as he jogged down around the far side of a large shed, returning a few minutes later on a smallish tractor with an old trailer hooked to the back. “Pack up and pile in,” he directed them with a nod, hopping down to haul the cooler onto the trailer.

Scott and Stella exchanged grins; Stella started to giggle. “What?” Wen asked, glancing up at her, mildly amused.

“It’s just,” she tried to explain, holding out one hand to gesture vaguely. “The whole image of you driving a tractor.”

He shrugged. “I live on a ranch, Stella.”

“I know,” she said, nodding. Her grin only grew. “I just love this picture of the white-hot rapper, keyboardist, and co-songwriter of Lemonade Mouth driving an old green tractor. In red flannel and dirty jeans.”

“We should make it the cover of our next album,” Scott joked to her in a low voice, and she snorted.

Wen rolled his eyes. “Okay. You two get in the trailer and I’ll take you over some bumps at a good clip.”

“Charlie’s already in there!” Stella pointed out.

Wen sighed dramatically. “Oh, fine,” he conceded. “For everyone else’s sake, I’ll let you two off this time. Get _in_ ,” he repeated, jabbing a thumb at the trailer.

They shifted their bags and the cooler around as they tried to make room for everyone, and Wen hopped back into the tractor seat after waving Glover into the trailer as well. The bench seat had room for one more person, and Wen patted the spot next to him and raised his eyebrows at Olivia. “C’mon,” he called softly. “I’ve got room up here. No need for you to cram yourself in with those hooligans.”

Olivia smiled and, after a tiny hesitation, turned away from the trailer to join him, taking his outstretched hand and letting him pull her up onto the seat. He put his arm across the back behind her and looked over his shoulder at the others. “Everyone secure?” he asked.

“We’re good, I think,” Charlie confirmed, glancing around at the others and their Tetris-style arrangement of legs and backpacks and musical instruments.

“Okay,” Wen said with a nod. “Anyone falls out it’s their own fault. I’ve got nothing to do with it.” He pushed on a lever in front of him and, one hand on the wheel, steered the tractor gently back down to the dirt road that ran perpendicular to the barn, headed towards the sparse woods that filled much of the property. Taking a left around the barn, he set off onto a well-trodden dirt path that ran down alongside the west edge of the property.

Confident she wouldn’t be overheard over the noisy rumble of the tractor engine, Mo leaned over the cooler to Stella. “You _see_ that arm?” she said in Stella’s ear.

Stella nodded, grinning. “Hard to miss,” she answered. “These two are something else, really. They’re not subtle.”

“Yeah, but do you think one of them’s _said_ anything yet?” Mo asked. “I mean, surely they can’t be like this without _one_ of them having said something, right?”

Stella shrugged. “I mean, history tells us that they’re _really_ oblivious.”

Mo narrowed her eyes and glanced up at Wen and Olivia again, his arm still looped casually around her back on the top edge of the seat. He drove one-handed, the tractor trundling along at a slow pace to avoid jostling the trailer. He leaned over and said something to her, and she laughed. “I can’t deal with this,” Mo muttered. “They’re so cute. This is ridiculous.”

Scott and Charlie exchanged glances and then both leaned in towards the cooler as well. “You talking about what I think you’re talking about?” Scott asked, one arm around Glover’s back to hold the dog in place.

“Obviously,” Mo told him.

“We’re trying to figure out if they can seriously be like _this_ ,” Stella said, jabbing a thumb over her shoulder, “and still not actually _dating_ yet.”

Charlie tipped his head to one side. “I feel like they’d tell us.”

“I mean, that’s what I thought too,” Mo agreed, nodding. “But part of me can’t believe there’s nothing going on. I mean, _look_ at them today.”

Charlie shook his head again. “There’s something going on,” he told her assuredly. “They’re just not dating yet. Not the same thing.”

“I mean, _Georgie_ doesn’t think they’re dating yet,” Stella pointed out. “Although she _definitely_ knows they’re headed for it.”

“That’s true…” Mo admitted.

“I’d bet money tonight does something for them, though,” Scott pointed out. “I mean, they’re not alone, but the six of us camping out with a fire, staying up all hours to watch shooting stars? That’s a recipe for romance.”

The tractor went over a small wooden bridge across a creek and then turned right, following the path around a large tree and then into a wide, grassy clearing filled with wildflowers. Wen had clearly already been out there once that day; packed tents and rolled-up sleeping bags and folded tarps sat in a pile off to one side next to a big plastic bin and an iron fireplace.

Wen pulled the tractor to a stop along one edge of the clearing and turned off the motor. Hopping down from his seat, he gave Olivia a hand down as well – he was always reaching for her, always finding excuses for contact – and then turned back towards the trailer to help the others clamber out, letting go of her hand slowly. “You can leave your bags for now,” he said as he let Stella balance against his shoulder. “We should set everything else up first, while we still have the light.”

Charlie was already looking at the pile of tents and tarps. “I hope you know how,” he admitted, “because I have no idea.”

“Have you never pitched a tent before, Charlie?” Mo teased. “Even I’ve done that.”

He shook his head. “I’ve never been camping. Mom hates it. Tommy always said he’d take me some time, but we never got around to it.”

“All right, Charlie, then today’s your lucky day,” Wen told him, clapping his shoulder. “We’re gonna teach you.”

There were two tents, each big enough for four; one for the girls, one for the boys. It only made sense. Wen, Scott, and Stella cleared the ground while the others unpacked the tents, counting out the pegs and making sure everything was accounted for. Wen had camped in the meadow a few times before and showed them where the ground was flattened out by one side, the grass sparser there. They picked up any sticks or rocks that were in the way, and Glover danced around them happily. Sometimes they would hand him a stick, which he would delightedly take over to the pile they were making. Wen yanked up the flowers that had managed to bloom there, not really thinking about it. He stood and looked at them in his hand for a moment while Scott and Stella started to unfold and lay down a tarp.

Wen glanced behind him at Olivia, finished counting out tent pegs and now lining them up in a row, as if uncertain what to do next. “Hey, Olivia,” he called, putting the flowers down casually. “Come give me a hand with the second tarp?”

“Sure,” she answered, tucking her hair back as she got to her feet. She glanced up and smiled at him as she approached, and he couldn’t help smiling back. He turned around and pretended, hopefully convincingly, that he hadn’t noticed himself leaving the flowers on top of the folded tarp. “Hm,” he mumbled as he scooped them up again, glancing around. “Well.” Then he held them out to her with an amused grin, hoping none of it came across as being as planned as it was. “I suppose I could give these to you.”

“Oh!” Olivia said in surprise, a huge smile breaking across her face as she took them. If she was wise to his plan, she didn’t show it; she seemed to take it as a genuinely impulsive action. She bit her lip thoughtfully, pulling one of them out slowly – a big yellow one that he knew grew all over the property – and tucking it behind her ear. “Just a second,” she told him, glancing up, and then she turned and ran back to the trailer. Wen picked up the tarp while he watched her; Scott and Stella were almost done with theirs, and weirdly, he wanted to spread the other one with Olivia instead of let someone else take it.

Olivia tore open her backpack and rummaged through it. After a moment she pulled a half-empty disposable water bottle out of a side pocket with a little “ahah!” and unscrewed the lid, stuffing it back into her bag and then tucking the flower stems gently into the bottle. She glanced around for a moment and then settled the makeshift bouquet gently between her bags before coming back. “I’ll find somewhere to put it later,” she told him.

Wen beamed. “Sounds good.” Then he held out the folded tarp and she cheerfully helped him spread it out next to the other one.

There was a fair amount of laughter amongst them as they wrangled the two tents into place, a few feet apart, doors facing into the meadow. Charlie took a couple of minutes to figure out how the tent pegs slotted together, but he caught on before long. Stella claimed the tent on the left for the girls, insisting it was larger no matter how many times Wen told her they were identical, and they finally unpacked the trailer, tossing their bags inside their respective tents. With Charlie’s help, Wen dragged the fireplace and the cooler into the centre of the clearing – the highest point of what was in fact a very low, shallow hill – and the girls spread out a handful of old blankets to sit on.

Stella and Scott had both brought guitars with them and it wasn’t long before they came out of their cases. Everyone knew Stella’s trusty acoustic, but Scott’s acoustic bass was new – after years of coveting, he had finally bought it after their highly successful first tour. He’d played with it plenty, he told them, but this was the first time he had a chance to jam with other people on it, and he was looking forward to it. Charlie went back to the boys’ tent and returned with a wooden box with a hole in one side.

“I saw that in the trailer earlier,” Olivia said as he put it down. “What is it, Charlie?”

He glanced up as he sat down on top of it. “It’s a cajón,” he answered with a smile. “It’s a kind of box drum from Peru. My grandparents came up from Brazil for Christmas in December, and they had just found out about the band and everything at that point, so they brought it up with them as my gift.”

“It’s so pretty,” Stella said admiringly, leaning over to run a finger along the polished wood surface.

He nodded, grinning. “I’m still learning to play it, but this seemed like as good an excuse as any.”

Wen popped open the cooler and passed around lemonades, then pulled a few bags of chips out of a bag and tossed them into the group’s midst, allowing them to be passed around at leisure. Stella began plucking out a tune on her guitar, and Scott and Charlie joined her eagerly. Mo sat between Scott and Charlie, mostly just enjoying the music; Wen and Olivia sat on the opposite side of the circle, occasionally pitching in with vocals and otherwise just listening. Glover curled up against Wen’s hip and dozed off. The band bounced back and forth between improvising and playing songs they already knew as the sun slowly set over the trees.

The air grew cooler and Wen lit the fireplace, a little pile of firewood crackling as it burned. When Stella and Scott finally set their guitars aside for a break, Wen pulled a bag of marshmallows, a box of graham crackers, and a handful of chocolate bars out of his bag, following up with the marshmallow-roasting forks he had stashed nearby. Stella and Charlie cheered him as he passed the sticks around.

“I’ve never had a s’more,” Olivia admitted, regarding the marshmallow she’d been handed while the others eagerly stabbed theirs and held them towards the fireplace.

“What!” Charlie exclaimed. “Are you serious? I’ve never been camping, but no _s’mores?_ ”

She shrugged awkwardly. “I don’t know! It’s just never come up. I’ve only been camping once, and it was when I was pretty little… Other than that I don’t think I’ve ever had any _reason_ to have had a s’more.”

Stella poked her marshmallow through the open side of the fireplace, holding it directly in the frame. “I don’t think you need a _reason_ for s’mores,” she pointed out. “An excuse is all well and good, but I’m pretty sure you can, and should, just eat s’mores whenever you want.”

Mohini – who had been considering asking Stella if she realized that marshmallows weren’t vegetarian, but ultimately decided against it – spoke up as well as she took a graham cracker from the package Scott held out to her. “I’m surprised, Olivia,” she said. “I mean, you wouldn’t catch my parents hanging out around a campfire. But I was a girl scout.”

“Ohmygod, for real?” Stella interrupted delightedly. “With the little uniform and everything? Please tell me you have pictures.” Mo rolled her eyes.

Wen glanced at Olivia, still looking a little lost with a roaster in one hand and a marshmallow in the other, and he gave her a nudge. “Well, this way we get to be the lucky people who feed you your first s’more,” he said with a grin. “Ever roasted a marshmallow?” She shook her head. “So no idea how you want it then, huh?”

“Not like that,” Olivia answered with a frown, watching Stella pull a flaming marshmallow out of the fire and blow it out. She beamed at the blackened puff and held it out to Charlie on her left, waiting with graham crackers and chocolate to sandwich it for her.

Wen snorted. “Here,” he chuckled, pulling his marshmallow back and inspecting it. “I like mine all gooey like this. Grab the crackers and the chocolate.” He bounced his leg slightly, drawing her attention to the ingredients he had balanced on his knee. She picked them up and followed Charlie’s lead, holding them up so that Wen could plop his marshmallow on top of the chocolate, and then letting him pull out the skewer and take the s’more from her. He squished it down so the melting marshmallow squeezed out the sides.

“You take this,” he told her, putting it back in her hand and taking away the marshmallow she was still holding. “And I’ll take this.” He skewered it and stuck it in the fire as Scott and Mo bit into their own s’mores and Stella reached for the marshmallow bag.

Olivia stared at the thing in her hand for a moment, unaccountably nervous, and then she bit in. She couldn’t help grinning as marshmallow overflowed onto her fingers. “Oh gosh,” she mumbled through the mouthful. Wen smiled at her as he glanced over again.

“Good?” Scott and Mo asked at the same time.

Olivia nodded, smiling now. “Amazing,” she admitted. “I’ve definitely been missing out.”

“Toss the bag back,” Wen called across the circle, and Charlie obliged. With one hand, Wen pulled out another marshmallow and handed it to Olivia. “Here,” he said. “Now you give it a try.”

She skewered it on the end of the roasting fork that had been laying across her lap and held it out next to Wen’s. He helped her keep an eye on it and when their marshmallows were roasted they helped each other assemble their s’mores. All six of them laughed when Stella, overzealous about setting her marshmallows on fire, lost one onto the firewood; a while later Wen had to dig awkwardly through his supplies and find the container of wipes he had packed so they could all clean off their sticky hands.

By the time they were cleaned up again it was really getting dark. Mo scooted closer to the fire, and so did Charlie; Olivia, already sitting close to Wen, leaned into him slightly. He didn’t really want to make her move, but a few minutes later, as he watched Stella hold her hands up to the fireplace, he sighed. “You guys are all cold, aren’t you?” he asked in amusement as Scott coaxed Glover into laying down next to his legs.

“Maybe,” Mo admitted, rubbing her arms quickly.

“I told you guys to dress warmly,” he joked. “But you didn’t believe me when I told you how cold it would get, did you? Bunch of suburban dorks, never spend the night outside.”

“Hey,” Scott complained immediately.

“What?” Wen laughed, raising his eyebrows. “Did I say anything that wasn’t true?”

Scott frowned, exchanging a glance with Charlie. “No,” he said finally, a hint of a smile at the corner of his mouth. “But I feel like I should be offended anyway.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Wen tapped Olivia’s shoulder. “One sec. Sorry,” he told her as she straightened up, and he already regretted it. But he got to his feet and crossed the grass to the big plastic tub. Lifting the lid, he sorted through it for a moment, then returned with an armful of hoodies. “I knew this would happen,” he said, entertained, as he distributed them.

“We’re all dressed up as Wen now,” Stella said, grinning, as she pulled the sweatshirt she’d been handed over her head.

“What?” Wen asked.

“It’s true,” Mo pointed out. “Jeans, old shirts we can wear riding and get dirty, several layers, certified Wen sweaters. We’re a band of Wens.”

“Probably completely indistinguishable,” Scott agreed, his grin mirroring Stella’s. “I bet if your dad came out to check on us he’d be pretty confused. Where once he had one son, now he has six.”

Wen snorted as he sat down again, leaning back on his arms. “I told you Wen would’ve been a good band name,” he teased. “Imagine how appropriate it would be now.”

Stella snorted. “Yeah, you wish.”

“Whoa!” Charlie interrupted, pointing into the sky. “Did anyone else see that?”

“And the first meteor of the night goes to Charlie!” Wen said. “You make a wish, bro?”

“You bet,” Charlie told him with a grin. He slid off his cajón and pushed it aside, stretching out with his hands folded behind his head.

“He’s got the right idea,” Scott said. “Hang on one sec,” he added to Mo, pushing himself to his feet and heading back towards the boys’ tent. He returned with his pillow and sleeping bag and tossed them down on the blanket. He and Mo laid back one the pillow, and he unzipped the sleeping bag and threw it over their legs.

Stella followed suit as well; she had laid down with her feet up on her guitar case and her head on Charlie’s stomach, ignoring his complaints. “Don’t worry,” she assured him, snickering. “I’ll lay on everyone else later. You just get the first turn.”

Wen was reclining at the same time, sliding back on the arms he leaned on, eventually folding them behind his head. “There’s another one,” he said, pointing in roughly the same direction Charlie had a minute earlier.

“Really?” Olivia asked, leaning back stiffly next to him.

“Yeah,” he told her, trying to put aside the content of his wish for a moment. “That’s usually the best direction to look. C’mere.” He reached out and gently tugged her closer by the shoulders so they had the same view, circling part of the sky with one outstretched finger. “Keep your eyes over there and you’re more likely to spot them.”

“Okay,” she agreed softly, nodding. She made to shift away again, so Wen just left his arm outstretched as an unspoken invitation to stay if she wanted. After a moment’s hesitation, she accepted, laying her head on his upper arm and staying where she was. He smiled to himself.

Everyone managed to spot the third one, streaking across the sky just above the treetops in the same direction Wen had said to watch. They oohed and ahhed as it went, leaving an unusually long tail in its wake.

“It’s beautiful,” Olivia said happily.

“The whole sky out here is beautiful,” Mohini agreed, leaning into Scott’s shoulder. “I haven’t seen this many stars in a long time.”

“We kinda live in the perfect spot, I think,” Wen said. “Close enough to town that it’s not hard to get to school or have people over or anything, but far enough that there’s a big difference in light pollution and stuff.”

“It’s easy to forget how close to home I am right now,” Stella added. “It’s so quiet and peaceful out here.”

The six of them chatted idly as they waited between meteors, occasionally interrupted by one or two people shouting at a shooting star only they caught, other times making noise as everyone saw the same one.

Wen laid there with Olivia resting on his arm and wished on every shooting star for the same thing. He would have felt a lot sillier for it if it weren’t for the fact that any wish he could have come up with in the last year had come true in the time since. He was in a chart-topping band with amazing friends, his family situation had improved a great deal, he had everything he could ask for – except for the courage to ask out the girl of his dreams, the girl he spent almost every day with, the girl who was currently resting comfortably next to him gasping with delight over every meteor that crossed the sky. He couldn’t help smiling at her utter glee. She had told him that she’d seen a couple of shooting stars in her life, but never watched a meteor shower. He felt lucky to be lying next to her for her first, even if it was getting cold and his arm had fallen asleep.

Wen’s train of thought was interrupted by Charlie’s laughter and Mo’s amused complaints as Stella, holding true to her earlier promise, rolled onto her hands and knees and crawled around Charlie’s legs, flopping down once again with her head on Mohini’s stomach this time.

“Don’t get too cozy, Stell,” Scott warned jokingly.

Mo snorted and elbowed her boyfriend in the side. “Stella can get as cozy as she likes,” she said in a mockingly offended tone. “ _I’ll_ let her know if she’s too close.”

“Ooooh. Scott, I think you might be in trouble,” Charlie teased.

“I wouldn’t _dream_ of it, you two,” Stella chuckled. “Don’t you worry about me.”

Olivia scooted a little closer to Wen’s side. “Cold?” he asked softly, rubbing her shoulder gently with numb fingers. Glover was curled up at his side again, helping keep his body warm, but his extremities were chilly.

“Little bit,” she admitted sheepishly.

“Sit tight,” he told her, pulling his arm gently out from under her head. “I’ll grab a sleeping bag.”

“Actually,” she said quietly, sitting up with him, “I really have to go to the bathroom.” She smiled, embarrassed.

“Oh, okay,” he said. “We can drive up to the house.” He glanced towards the others. “Anyone else have to go? We’re gonna take a bathroom trip.”

The other four exchanged glances and all responded that no, they were fine. Wen got to his feet and gave Olivia a hand up. Glover’s head popped up, watching them alertly, but Wen told him to go visit Charlie instead of following, and he happily obliged. Charlie scooped the cheerful collie against his side as Wen and Olivia crossed to the edge of the clearing. Wen paused to unhook the trailer before they climbed into the tractor.

The noise of the engine seemed loud in the otherwise quiet evening. Olivia leaned against Wen’s side, hands clasped between her legs for warmth, and he didn’t complain. The drive up to the house was quiet, the bathroom trip quick. Wen went after she did, just to be safe. Better than driving back up again in a few hours. Outside again a few minutes later, they sat quietly on the tractor seat for a moment, Wen not touching the ignition.

“Thanks for having us over tonight,” Olivia said softly, leaning her shoulder against his.

“I’m really glad we thought of it,” he answered.

“’We?’” she asked, amused.

“Well, yeah,” he replied with a smile. “You were the one who commented on how good the clearing was for cloud-watching. Got me thinking about how well it always worked for stargazing, too, and you said that sounded lovely. From there it was a pretty quick jump to the meteor shower and inviting you guys over to see it.”

Olivia laughed lightly. “You’re giving me a lot of credit,” she said.

“I think you get partial credit for most of my good ideas these days,” he joked.

“I don’t know about that,” she giggled.

“Ahhh, I do,” Wen chuckled. He leaned into her as well, trying to figure out how to make the moment last longer.

Then she gasped and pointed. It was hardly necessary; the meteor was the most impressive one they’d spotted all night, low and slow, a long tail stretching out behind it. “Oh, wow,” she breathed as it faded.

“Pretty incredible, right?” he sighed back.

“Have you been making wishes on them?” Olivia asked. She tipped her head towards him, not quite resting on his shoulder, but touching it.

A brief pause. “One wish,” he admitted after a second.

“Me too,” she said softly.

“Think it’ll come true?” he asked.

This time it was Olivia who hesitated. “I think there’s a chance,” she told him.

Wen glanced down at her, trying to gauge her expression. She looked up at him, and for a second he just stared. His heart pounded. He considered, then almost chickened out, then—“Olivia, I’ve been wishing for—”

She shook her head suddenly, eyebrows raised, a finger on his lips cutting him off. “If you tell me it won’t come true,” she told him, smiling slightly. She was teasing, and he wondered whether she’d caught onto him or not. He really couldn’t tell. He studied her face for another moment as she slowly took her hand away.

“I think it might, actually,” he answered.

“How’s that?” she asked curiously.

Wen frowned slightly, then laughed. “I didn’t know if you were messing with me or not,” he said quietly. “But you really _don’t_ realize what I was going to say, do you?”

“No,” she replied, furrowing her brows. “Should I have?”

Impulsively, he dipped his face down and kissed her then, moving quickly at first but then lingering a second, reluctant to pull away. When he did, she said, “Oh.”

He looked at her face. She didn’t seem upset. Not that he’d expected her to be, but it was still a good sign. “You’re the only thing I still had to wish for,” he told her, then shut his eyes and bit down on his tongue. That had come out a lot cheesier than he’d been anticipating.

“Oh,” Olivia said again, and she sounded happy. He risked looking at her again, and there was a huge smile on her face. Colour in her cheeks, too, if his eyes weren’t lying to him in the dim light.

“I meant,” he started, trying to salvage his dignity. “That… I mean, I just. The last year’s been a lot of dreams come true. There wasn’t much I still wanted that I didn’t already have. Except, you know.”

She was beaming at him. Her arms drifted up over his shoulders and draped around his neck. “I was wishing for the same thing, you know,” she said shyly. “I mean – for you.”

“Yeah?” he asked, distress over his bungled confession giving way to a smile.

She nodded. “I’m not… I’m not very good at being brave, Wen,” she told him softly. It occurred to him that that wasn’t true, but he didn’t interrupt her. “But I was wishing for one of us to be, because I’m a little bit head over heels for you, and sometimes I wondered if you were—”

“Completely crazy about you?” he asked, grinning as he wrapped his arms around her middle. She laughed. “You were right, because I am.”

Olivia was still smiling, and Wen pulled her close to kiss her again. This time she kissed him back, holding him near for a couple of seconds with her hands on the back of his neck.

“The others are probably wondering where we are,” Olivia pointed out after a few moments’ quiet, during which they just sat on top of the tractor, holding each other and smiling.

“Mm, you’re right,” he admitted quietly, opening his eyes. “How do you want to handle this?”

“I’m not sure,” she admitted. “I mean, they’ll – they know us too well. They’ll know right away that something happened.”

Wen grinned again. “You want to mess with them a little?”

She snorted. “What do you have in mind?”

“We act like this has been going on for a while,” he suggested, looking at her as he straightened up and reached for the ignition. “See if we can convince them they missed it at first.”

She laughed out loud. “I don’t know if they’ll believe it,” she said.

“Yeah, but wouldn’t it be fun to try?” he chuckled, starting the engine.

Olivia giggled and leaned on his shoulder. “Probably,” she agreed as he steered them back onto the little dirt road.

They drove back down to the meadow, Wen navigating easily by the bright moonlight through the trees, though he could probably have done it blindfolded. He’d been going up and down this path for as long as he could remember. Finally they rounded the last corner and he parked the tractor carefully in front of the trailer, where it would be easy to reattach the two in the morning. He helped Olivia down from the seat and held her hand as the approached the fireplace again. Their friends waved, Stella now resting on Scott’s stomach.

Wen hung onto Olivia’s hand until she sat down, then he slipped over to the tents to grab a sleeping bag for extra warmth like he’d offered to do earlier. Mo watched Olivia for a second, eyes narrowed. “You guys were gone for like twenty minutes!” she observed.

“Mhmm,” Olivia answered innocently, with a smile. “Did you guys see that really big one?”

“Yeah,” Charlie answered as Mo and Stella exchanged glances.

“Maybe they were makin’ out,” Stella teased as she put her head back down on Scott’s belly. Sometimes her hints were subtle, sometimes they really weren’t.

“Nah,” Wen answered as he returned. “That’d be impolite.”

Now Stella and Mo both looked up again, at him this time. Normally comments like that flustered him, but he wasn’t even paying attention. He plunked down next to Olivia and began to unzip his sleeping bag, spreading it out across their legs, dropping his pillow on the ground behind them so they could lay back against it. Stella and Mo propped themselves up on their elbows, watching the pair curiously, and after a moment Scott pushed himself up as well. The three of them exchanged glances as Olivia snuggled into Wen’s side under his extended arm, and Mo reached out and nudged Charlie, who rolled onto his side and pushed himself up to look over the snoozing dog.

“Okay, now, wait a second,” Mo said slowly. “What’s going on?”

“Hm?” Wen stretched his neck, glancing at her briefly. “What do you mean?”

Mo glanced around at the others, frowning slightly. “I mean, this changed in the last half hour, right?” she asked them. “I’m not just imagining it?”

“You’re definitely not,” Charlie said, sitting up. “What happened between you two?”

“Us?” Wen asked, fighting to hide his amusement.

“We just went up to the house to pee,” Olivia answered. She rolled onto her stomach and pushed up onto her elbows, looking at the others across the fireplace. “Hey, Wen, this needs more wood soon,” she remarked to him quietly.

“Mmkay,” he answered lazily, one hand reaching up to touch her shoulder. He was the only one still watching the sky, not confident in his ability to keep a straight face if he met anyone’s eye. He was impressed with Olivia’s sudden boldness and commitment to the joke. His fingers drew little circles against her sleeve. “In a minute.”

“Okay,” Stella said, pushing herself up further. “No. Hang on. What is _that?_ ”

“What’s what?” Olivia asked, her puzzled frown remarkably convincing.

“The _touching_ ,” Stella replied, brows furrowing. “The whole…” she lifted a hand and gestured vaguely at them. “You guys do the dorky awkward touching-until-you-notice-you’re-touching thing all the time, but _this_ is new.”

“No it’s not,” Olivia insisted, glancing quickly at Wen as if for confirmation. He only shrugged, catching the ends of her hair in between his fingers as he continued his idle caressing.

“Yes it is,” Scott finally chipped in, eyes narrow. “We’ve all been _watching_ and _waiting_ for literally almost a whole year. Something has definitely changed.”

“Dunno what you’re talking about…” Wen said, tucking his free hand under his head.

“No, seriously, when did this _happen?_ ” Mo asked, glancing at Stella again. “I mean, you guys are…”

“We’re what?” Olivia asked.

“Dating,” Stella supplied helpfully.

“Yeah…” Charlie agreed, tipping his head to one side in confusion. “You’re definitely doing couple things.”

“When did this _start?_ ” Mo asked again, more insistently.

“Oh, that.” Olivia glanced down at Wen again. “It’s been over a month, anyway,” she said at the same time that he answered, “A few weeks?” They stared at each other for a beat, and then Wen grinned, and then both of them burst out laughing, Olivia dropping into Wen’s side.

The frowns on their four bandmates’ faces only deepened. Glover lifted his head and looked at them all curiously for a moment, then laid back down drowsily.

“Oh, man, you did really good,” Wen complimented her, wiping his eye. “I wasn’t even sure if you wanted to try, but you’re better at this than me.”

“The more I thought about it the more I liked the idea,” Olivia giggled.

The other four exchanged confused expressions, then glanced down again in time to see Wen, still smiling widely, put a hand on Olivia’s cheek and pull her in to kiss her.

“Wait up,” Scott said loudly. “So are you two dating or _not?_ ”

Olivia broke the kiss with renewed giggling, dropping her head against Wen’s shoulder. He watched her with a grin, waiting for her to recover, and when she lifted her face again, he asked, “Whaddaya say, huh?”

She nodded. “Yeah, I’d like that.”

“Cool,” he answered, and kissed her once more, quickly this time, because they were both still laughing.

“So what actually _happened?_ ” Stella demanded.

Mo’s confusion was briefly eclipsed by excitement. “We didn’t just see your _first kiss_ , did we?”

Wen snorted. “Nah, that was up at the house,” he said as casually as possible, with a wave of his hand.

“What, like – like just now, while you were gone, or?” Mo wanted to know. Wen and Olivia only looked at each other and laughed even more, delighting in their friends’ utter confusion.

“Ugh,” Stella complained. She laid back down, dropping her head heavily onto Scott’s stomach, eliciting a grunt and then a slightly pained little laugh from him. “Don’t even bother, Mo,” she said over Scott’s complaints. “We’re not getting through this gigglefest right now. Just wait until we have Olivia trapped in the tent with us. Then we’ll get everything out of her.”

Olivia, smiling, rolled onto her back again and tucked herself back into Wen’s side, happy and comfy. He squeezed her shoulders briefly and adjusted the pillow behind them, turning to kiss her forehead quickly. “Told you it’d be fun,” he said softly.

“Yes you did,” she conceded with a little nod. Then she gasped and pointed into the sky. “Did you see that one?”

“Yes!” Wen gave a low whistle. “Good one.”

“What!” Stella squawked. “My eyes were closed!” The other three grumbled complaints as well, finally laying back down to avoid falling behind in numbers.

Olivia shifted her head on Wen’s shoulder. “I don’t know what to wish for now,” she murmured.

Wen smiled. “I’m just wishing for everything about tonight to last,” he told her.

“What did I tell you about saying your wishes out loud?” she admonished him.

“Yeah,” he admitted, “but it worked out really well before.”

Olivia smiled and reached across his middle under the sleeping bag, taking his hand when she found it laying on his stomach. He gave her fingers a light squeeze.

“Besides,” Wen told her. “I don’t need wishes to know that everything we have tonight is going to last a good long time.”


End file.
